Interviewee: Ruth Kaler
Interviewer: Natalie Dale
Date: November 10, 2010
Ruth Kaler was born in 1938, in Morganton, NC, and graduated from high school in 1956. She entered nursing school in middle age; her other careers included being an airline stewardess, a job at a travelersâ insurance company, employment at a furniture company, and working with health foods. She completed her nursesâ education at Western Piedmont Community College.
In the interview, Kaler explains her reasons for entering nursing and discusses her education. She explains her interest in critical care. She talks about her first job in a hospital, balancing her family life and her duties as a nurse, her interactions with doctors, and the experience of losing patients. She discusses her observations of gender dynamics and age discrimination in nursing. Kaler reflects on the changes that she has seen in nursing over the course of her career
